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Favourite Fishing Places

Our July 2002 contribution from Terry Lawton

Fishing a friend's river is always a pleasure. But how often do those seemingly innocent words: "Why don't you go and fish my favourites stretch?" turn into an embarssing disaster of lost flies and broken leaders? Terry Lawton describes some favourite places that he has fished - and got friends to fish!

One of the great pleasures of game fishing is fishing with friends on their river or local water and returning the invitation on your own water. In this way you can cement a friendship - or even start one - as well as getting to know another piece of water. But there is one phrase that your host is bound to pronounce during the course of the day: "Why don't you go and fish my favourite stretch?". Those few, simple words can be an introduction to an embarrassing disaster as well as to some wonderful fishing.

What is a typical "my favourite stretch"? How many times does it turn-out to be a tree-lined, inaccessable nightmare? One day I was shown "the entrance" to what I know now is a wonderful tree-lined stretch of river that can usually be guaranteed to have a fish or two rising along its length almost regardless of the prevailing conditions. There were few obvious places to stand to cast on the narrow bank. Only short casts can be made at an angle across the river: longer casts have to be made straight upstream. This meant that many fish were always just out of reach. Really frustrating!

Another "favourite" spot is known as The Swamp, for the simple reason that access to it and along the river bank is just that, a swamp. Again it is tree-lined but with the odd gap between trees where a cast - a short, careful cast - can just about be made. It's just the place for that little six or seven foot rod that you have been thinking of buying to fish just this sort of a place. The bend as you approach The Swamp, through the short length of wood of The Swamp itself and then the pool on the exit upstream: these are all good places to find a fish, particularlry when conditions make fishing the more open sections of the river that much harder.

One of my favourite stretches is, sadly, now less of a challenge to the innocent visitor. It is a straight run with a good fall, some deep holes and high banks so that it can only be fished by wading. There used to be plenty of bushes over-hanging the river, with trout lying under or very near each and everyone one. Sadly these pieces of vital bankside cover have been removed and with them have gone guaranteed lies for the trout. But there are still good places and the deep holes still hold fish. Where the mill leat joins the main river is always a good spot. Fish rise under the over-hanging trees and approaching them is always a challenge. As well as the overhanging branches close to the water, there are trees on the other bank restricting one's back cast. Challenging but rewarding fishing.

In each and everyone of these unfishable places there is always the real pleasure of hooking a fish and hearing that wonderful fizzing hiss from the line or leader cutting through the water as it rushes hard upstream. Even when you have hooked a fish, releasing or landing it can be another challenge.

It's good to see a visitor get to grips with the challenges of a favourite run, catch and release a fish or two and leave the water appreciating a little of why it is your favourite spot. The alternative is that they go home in a quiet rage having lost flies, snapped leaders, perhaps soaking wet!

One year the eldest member of my club - a sprightly 92-year old - told me that his favourite spot was a long shallow riffle about knee deep when wading. He has since hung-up his rod for good but he loved to get into the river and wade carefully along under the bank, casting to the occasional rising fish. His biggest problem was getting out of the river again at the top of the riffle where the water starts to get too deep to wade. I hope that I am as adventurous and active at his age.

Fishing these challenging favourite spots teaches one the importance of caution, looking around to identify potential hazards before that fateful first cast ends with your fly hooked-up and way out of reach. As confidence grows it is only too easy to forget where you are and try a slightly longer cast - and hook a tree behind you! Now, a word of advice. If you do get caught in a tree, don't just start yanking on your line, you may pull the fly free or simply break the tippet. A much better approach is to point your rod along the line and straight at the fly. Keep pulling on the line and slide your rod up to where the fly is caught. You are trying to get the fly into the top ring or your rod: you may need to pull the branch down to do this. When the fly is in the ring, keep a tight hold on the line and push and wiggle the rod. The rod ring will act like a disgorger and in most cases will free you fly.

Fishing with friends - particularly friends and fishing acquaintances from other countries - is an ideal way to compare and swop flies and learn new ideas and tactics. Do you leave your friend alone while you go off and fish another stretch of water? Or do you walk the river together, taking it in turns to cast to feeding fish? (Acting as a guide for a friend is a great way to see and watch how fish react to the cast and the fly.) Both methods have a time and a place and which you choose depends on how well you know each other and how you like to fish. Sometimes inviting a friend to fish and then leaving them alone can seem unfriendly. But fishing with someone who does not give you enough water to fish and is always in a hurry to move on to the next stretch and who then has to rush home, is not a pleasant or relaxing way to fish, even when fishing your hosts favourite stretch!

Terry Lawton is a passionate nymph fisherman who caught his biggest wild brown trout (in the UK) - 4lb 2oz - on a home-tied variant of a goldhead, Sawyer-style pheasant tail nymph.